TEENAGE university graduate Alex Thorne was among those collecting their results from Kings Monkton school in Cardiff.

More than half (54%) of students at the independent school gained A*-A grades, with GCSE passes across the board.

Star student Alex returned a clean-sweep of A* grades to complement his first-class degree in maths from Cardiff University.

Scores at South Wales’ biggest Welsh-medium school also soared yesterday. Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf in Cardiff recorded 99% of its GCSE students achieving passes in five or more subjects.

Outstanding individual results included Alys Robinson and Elin Hughes, who both had 13 A*s. Angharad Tanner, Gwilym Tudur and David Lawson were the school’s other stand-out performers, with 79% of students obtaining five A*-C grades.

Cardiff Sixth Form College hailed another set of eye-catching GCSE results. All of the college’s 103 entries were grade C or better, with the vast majority (91.3%) A*-A grades.

Bryn Hafren Comprehensive School in Barry recorded its best-ever GCSE results. Nearly all (96%) pupils obtained at least five GCSEs while 69% obtained five or more highest grades.

Boys at a faith school in the Vale of Glamorgan bucked the national trend and performed better than girls. St Richard Gwyn Catholic High School in Barry returned a 76% pass rate at grades A*-C, up from 62% in 2010.

Boys outperformed girls by 5%, with four out of five boys achieving A*-C grades.

Head boy Reuben Mitchell achieved two A*s, eight As and two Bs, while head girl Madison Ramsden scooped six A*s and five As.

At Glyn Derw High School in Caerau, Cardiff, pupils achieved the school’s best-ever GCSE results with more than half of pupils obtaining five grades A*-C – a 21% increase on last year.

And a 62-year-old dinner lady proved you are never too old to learn – gaining her first A-grade GCSE yesterday.

June L’Homme, who has worked at Ferndale Community School’s canteen and as a home economics assistant for 27 years, got an A in religious education after joining classes with Year 11

The grandmother of four, from Ferndale, Rhondda, said: “I was over the moon with the result. I have worked for this for two years and to be honest I didn’t sleep at all the night before results day.

“I’m considering going on studying RE for my first A- level qualification and have received so much support from my family and the school.”

She left school without any qualifications as she was caring for her mother, but gained a B in English literature two years ago.